Northwest Ice Yachting Association Update

Northwest Ice Yachting Association Update


NIYA Homepage
Via Acting NIYA Secretary Steve Schalk, documents for the 2018 NIYA regatta tentatively scheduled for January 19-21, 2018. Next update January 14, 2018.

January 19-21, 2018 is the first weekend that the regatta can be sailed IF THERE ARE CONDITIONS. The regatta will be postponed on a weekly basis until there are optimal conditions for all classes. Keep informed by visiting this website and by calling the Iceboating Regatta Message Hotline: 608-204-9876

2010 Northwest

2010 Northwest

2010 Northwest

Let’s throw it back to 2010 Northwest regatta sailed on Lake Winnebago in Oshkosh. This was the first Northwest that photographer Gretchen Dorian attended. It was a challenge to pick two photos from each fleet because there were so many good ones to choose from. The 3 day regatta was typical because we waited for wind for a day and half and had to set up two separate courses on Sunday in order to get the required number of races completed.

1994 Northwest

1994 Northwest

1994 Northwest

Ran across this photograph a few days ago and it’s too cool not to post. It’s the 4LIYC’s Ken Kreider in his rear seat Skeeter POON sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The background looks like Lake Kegonsa near Madison, WI. Back in those days, Ken was a very competitive Skeeter sailor who loved high wind sailing and his weight gave him an advantage on light air days. Ken won the ISA championship in 1988. Pat Heppert sent along a note about POON: “…this is the boat that I sailed from about 2002 to 2014. When Ken got out of the Skeeters [he] sold everything to Dave Travis in Chicago, I then bought the POON IV hull and springboard from Dave Travis. I remember grinding off all the pink within about the first week of owning it because I just couldn’t even stand looking at it. Great memories. The boat is now owned by a recreational sailor in lower Michigan, who seems to be happy with it.”

1956 Northwest

1956 Northwest

1956 Northwest

Here’s another vintage ice boat newsreel from British PathĂ©, the 1956 Northwest Regatta sailed on Geneva Lake.
Read about the regatta in this Oshkosh Daily Northwestern newspaper report from January 23, 1956.
Since we’re on the subject of the Northwest, this is a good opportunity to note that there’s a new webpage dedicated to the regatta with up to date By Laws, Sailing Instructions, Records of Regatta Winners, and Northwest Archives. Many thanks to SIBC’s Steve Schalk for helping to organize the page.

1954 Northwest

From left- John Jacobs Sr., Bill Sarns, Skip Boston, and Elmer Millenbach, probably at a Detroit Ice Yacht Club banquet, c early 1950s

1954 Northwest

1954 marked the first time that the DN class competed in the Northwest and Skip Boston won that inaugural DN title. It was also a year that competitors completed the regatta despite tough conditions that ranged from no wind, 40 mph wind, followed by single digit temperatures. The regatta was scheduled for Pewaukee on January 15-71, 1954. The regatta’s opening day was a wash because the wind never materialized. On Saturday, “high winds, blowing snow, and poor visibility hampered racing…but good ice and 40 mph winds prevailed,” according to the Wisconsin State Journal. [40 miles per hour winds, really?-ed.]

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